Diplomatic row over student who died after girl gang attack
THE death of an engineering student after a brutal assault by a girl gang in Nottingham has caused a diplomatic row with Egypt.
Mariam Moustafa, 18, was punched several times and dragged 20m by the group as she waited for a bus in the city centre. The girls followed her on board and continued the attack until she lost consciousness, her family said.
She was initially treated and discharged from The Queen’s Medical Centre, but was rushed to Nottingham City Hospital the next day, where she died on Wednesday after 12 days in a coma.
Miss Moustafa’s devastated family believe the attack was racially motivated and revealed that she and Mallak, her younger sister, had been attacked before but said police had failed to act.
They described the perpetrators as “animals” for filming the fatal attack.
The incident has sparked outrage in Egypt, where the prosecutor-general has requested information about the investigation into her death by British officials, according to the BBC.
Online “Mariam’s rights will not be lost” has been trending in the country.
Emad Abu Hussein, a lawyer from the Egyptian embassy in London, questioned why she was initially discharged from hospital “despite a severe cerebral haemorrhage”.
Mallak, 16, criticised Nottinghamshire Police for “missing vital warning signs” that she believes could have saved her sister’s life. She said she had seen some of those involved “laughing about my sister’s coma” on Instagram.
Amr Elhariry, Mariam’s uncle said two girls had attacked Mariam and Mallak, breaking Mallak’s leg, four months before. He claimed her parents
‘I don’t know why they would attack her. She did nothing wrong’
Nisreen, 41, and Mohamed Moustafa, 49, had reported the incident to police but that nothing was done.
He said of the second attack: “While Mariam was lying in a hospital bed after nine operations, the girls who did it were taking selfies and enjoying life.”
He said his niece had been walking down the street when a group of girls shouted at her, calling her “black rose”.
Mr Elhariry said Mariam was taken to hospital at around 9pm but discharged at 2am, even though she was still in pain. “We are angry that the hospital discharged her and weren’t able to spot the bleed on her brain.”
Mallak said that when she and her sister had first been attacked last August, the perpetrators said it was because they had been staring. “No one did anything. Something could’ve been done, and then she would still be here.”
Muhammad Moustafa, the girls’ father, who lives in Nottingham, said he believed the attack was racially-motivated. “I don’t know why they would attack her. She did nothing wrong.”
Detectives said yesterday there was no information to suggest the attack was motivated by hate but that they were “keeping an open mind”. They have CCTV footage from the bus and have viewed the mobile phone footage.
The results of a post-mortem examination are expected today.
Police said a 17-year-old girl, arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, had been released on bail and several other juveniles had been interviewed.
Egypt is planning to send a delegation of parliamentarians to the UK in the wake of Miss Moustafa’s death, it emerged last night. The country’s UK embassy also called for those responsible to be “brought to justice swiftly”.